Defying Gravity
by Sarimia
Summary: Miru, whose name literally means 'To See', gets sucked into a different dimension. There, she gets blinded by an unknown person while unconscious, and must rely on the Sohma's to help her out. Wait, she has wings? Akito too? HaruOc, a little KyoxOc
1. Chapter 1

Based on the anime, after the last episode. It's summer. Read on.

* * *

"Defying gravity, and you can't pull me down!" I sang a song, "Defying Gravity", that my cousin taught me last summer. I skipped downstairs, threw open the washing machine, and shoved my dirty clothes in. For an hour, I cleaned up the house for no particular reason. I felt free; as if nothing could hold me down. And why shouldn't I? Tomorrow was my birthday.

After cleaning, I went outside and climbed onto the shed roof.

"_I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined  
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned." _I began to sing. It was one of my favourite songs. With arms spread wide, I continued to sing 'Unwritten'.

_Staring at the blank page before you  
open up the dirty window  
let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find_

_I wonder what would happen if I really could write my own fate._ I thought imaginatively. _Well, if I_ _could, I know exactly what I would write._ I lay back on the black shingle. I pictured getting sucked by a purplish black vortex and appearing –as an anime person- in Fruits Basket, an extremely popular manga, and once an anime.

I sighed, my happiness disintegrated. "As if." I said to myself, and watched the stars.

_Reaching for something in the distance  
So close you can almost taste it  
Release your inhibitions  
Feel the rain on your skin  
No one else can feel it for you  
Only you can let it in  
No one else, no one else…_

* * *

I awoke instantly. Looking at the stars, it was obvious that I hadn't been sleeping for long. But still, it was strange that I fell asleep on the shed roof. I had never done that before.

I glanced around, immediately knowing that I definitely wasn't in my back yard. For starters, we only had one tree. Second, I would actually be able to see the house. All around me was trees. Dense, dense foliage surrounded me and my random shed.

I hopped down from the roof after a good look around. What was even more disappointing was that I didn't have my ladder to climb down, and I landed funny on my ankle.

"Ouch," I mumbled to myself, and limped to the front of the shed, unlocking the door and slipping inside.

I flicked on a flashlight and gazed around for a blanket of some sort, or better yet, bandages for my ankle. I knew from experience and having an army dude for a father that the best way to heal was to walk it off.

Dad. I wonder what happened when I fell asleep. Tomorrow was my birthday, too. So much for a party with my few friends.

Finding some scrap cloth that my dad probably used as polishers of a sort, I tied up my ankle tightly and searched for something to sleep in. Rubbing my eyes, I finally dragged out an old bed mat and an empty (and clean!) garbage bag. I spread out the mat on the cement floor and lay the garbage bag on top of me, hoping to stay warm throughout the rest of the night.

* * *

Morning came early, and I rose with the sun. There were no windows in my shed (I claimed it mine now) so I opened the door to actually look again at my surroundings. Maybe in the daylight I would be able to find a path and hobble my way back to civilization. 

I wondered if I were in Petawawa.

No wait, am I even in the same dimension!?

Happy 14th birthday to me.

I adjusted my bandages and using an old walking stick my dad carved (I have a handy man for a father!) I limped my way down a deer trail. In the daylight it wasn't so menacing any more, and the only thing I was afraid of was if I didn't find food or people.

Noise reached my ears. Water? I hobbled my way over, and lo and behold, there was a small stream. I washed my face as well as took a drink, and then washed the stained cloth I used for my ankle.

My ankle was going slightly purple. It was definitely bruised, and I noted not to go jumping of any rooftops any time soon. If I could find one.

I massaged my bruise, wrapped it up again, and continued on my way, passing a small rockslide that seemed to have happened several months ago. It was slightly muddy from rain, and there were plants growing all over the loose dirt. I bet it had survived winter.

Fingering my ring on a gold chain around my neck, I walked for a couple hours, resting every ten minutes or so. My stomach growled in its lack of nutrition.

Voices.

I heard voices. Did I really find civilization? My heart soared as I headed towards the sound. My head spun slightly, and I had to lean against a tree for a few seconds before heading faster. My stomach growled and my ankle pounded, but I ignored anything that caused me hindrance. My foot caught on a root, and I tumbled face first into the ground.

There was a sharp pain as I collided with the ground, and then everything seemed to end.

* * *

My head pounded. My ankle pounded. My stomach growled. My eyes…felt tingly. 

Ouch.

"Ouch." I mumbled, voicing my thoughts. Other mumbles answered me, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Wait, people! Civilization! I could finally learn where I was! I snapped my eyes open…at least, I think I did, but I couldn't see anything.

"What the hell?" I murmured to myself. "Where am I?"

"Uhm…Excuse me?" A man called.

"Who's there?" I asked sharply, annoyed by my lack of sight. I tried to open and close my eyes several times, but there was still nothing.

"I'm Hatori Sohma, pleased to meet you, miss…" He trailed off, expecting me to finish my sentence.

"Call me Miru."

"Miru. A relative of mine, Yuki Sohma, and his friend, Tohru Honda found you fainted in the woods and called me to look you over." There was a shuffle of fabric as Hatori walked closer to my bed and used his stethoscope to check me over, asking me to breathe deep, and other things doctors do.

"…Okay. And? What's wrong with my eyes?" I demanded disrespectfully. When I was uncomfortable or uneasy, like at the moment, I grew snappy and rude. It was sort of a defense mechanism.

"Miru, you don't know that you're blind?"

"I'm…What? Wait, what day is it?"

"It's June 23rd. If there's anything I or Tohru can get you, please call. Tohru will be up momentarily with some soup."

"Thank you…" My shoulders fell.

Great. Blind on my 14th birthday.

Not only that, but I was in a different dimension! I was a dimension, an ocean, and several provinces from home.

Damn.

However, I knew one thing. I was in Fruits Basket. I guessed that the landslide I passed on the way here was where Tohru had her tent pitched before she lived at the Sohmas. And I had guessed it was at least a year old. So that meant it was the summer after the last episode of anime, probably.

But I hate assumptions, and hopefully I'll be able to dig up as much information as possible on the Sohma family, and the relationships within.

Blind.

DAMMIT!

I almost screamed in frustration. Unless there was a way to cure blindness, no longer would I be able to read. No longer will I be able to write. I'll never see my family again. I'll never lay eyes on a setting sun. I'll never see my reflection in the mirror. It won't matter any more if my light brown hair is long, or that I should wear glasses, or that my eyes are brown. Because I can't open my eyes. They're sealed shut.

I reached my hand and grazed my fingers lightly over my eyelids. I could feel scratches and scars across my eyes. Scabs were on my forehead and cheeks, the cuts were already beginning to heal. But not my eyes.

My eyes will never heal.

* * *

"Uhm, Miss Miru?" Tohru's light voice woke me from a doze. I sat up, fingers lightly fluttering over the quilt on my legs. 

"Hmm?" I answered incomprehensibly. Her footsteps told me she was carrying something, for they were slower than I guessed they should have been, and were certainly more evenly-paced. "Tohru, right? Hatori told me about you." Although my head was turned in her direction, my eyes were still sealed with those ugly scars.

"Did he?" the girl's voice grew more even as the conversation went on. "I brought some soup. How are you feeling?"

"Like a pile of sh--…crap." I refrained myself from using vulgar language in front of Tohru. "Thanks Tohru." I said as she placed a tray in my lap and a spoon in my hand. "I feel so handy-capped, now I'll have to rely more on others than I would like." I sighed.

It was comfortable talking with Tohru. I didn't tell her about my past life, but I asked about hers, and where I was. She described her room –the one I was in- as pink, and I pictured the one in the anime. I also wondered if the people looked mangaish, or normal.

I learned that my assumption was correct, and it was the summer after the last episode. Of course, she didn't tell me that. She told me that it's been a year since the spring when Yuki and Shigure found her. She wasn't going out with any one, and I swore she blushed when I asked. I could feel the heat radiating off her, strangely.

"What will happen to me, I wonder?" I asked myself when Tohru left. I had asked her to get a blindfold from Hatori, to hide the ugly scars on my eyes.

The swish of cloth and deliberately quiet footsteps caught my attention. I turned my head to the door, where the noise had come from. "Is someone there?"

"Miru, correct?" I heard a soft voice ask.

"Who wants to know?" I replied. I hated not being able to see.

"I'm Yuki Sohma, and this is Kyo, my cousin." The person said. Two people came into the room, one's footsteps heavier than the other.

"Thanks." I said to Yuki, looking in his general direction.

"What for?"

"Hatori told me you found me. Thanks for that."

"You're welcome--,"

Yuki was cut off as Kyo's temperamental voice broke through our pleasant conversation.

"What happened to your eyes?" He asked rudely.

"It's nice to meet you too." I replied, annoyed. Kyo quickly apologized and I explained that I was blind.

"Hey Miru, how old are you?"

"Fourteen and several hours." I replied certainly.

"Does that mean that today is your birthday? Or was it yesterday?"

"It's today. What time is it, anyways?"

"It's 1pm."

"Thanks." I continued to sip some chicken and rice soup and the three of us chatted. After I finished eating, Hatori came back upstairs. Yuki, who was definitely more of a gentleman than Kyo, took my tray away as the two cousins departed from the room.

"I see you've met Yuki and Kyo."

"Mm." Hatori checked my breathing again, and then tied a blindfold around my eyes. It was white, he told me. I thanked him and asked him to tell me something.

Surprisingly, he told me –without associating it with the Sohmas- the story of the Zodiac.

I must say, he is an excellent story-teller.

"I feel sorry for the cat." I remarked, just before he left the room.

As soon as I heard the door close, I got up from the bed. Hatori said I shouldn't move for a while, seeing as I twisted my bruised ankle again when I fell. But I wasn't one for obeying doctor's orders all the time, and I wanted to learn how big the room was.

I felt my way around the room, discovering a vanity, the closet, the side table, and the balcony. I stood out on the balcony, hands on the railing and face to the wind for a while, thinking about the Zodiac. It would be best if I didn't tell them I knew anything. Ha'ri might have to erase my memory. Although Tohru got away with it, I might not.

Eventually, the wind grew colder and I went back inside, sleeping away the rest of my birthday.

When I woke up again, there was a white-noise that rang all over. Rain, I realized. Rain was hitting the roof.

I went out onto the balcony. I listened to where the rain fell and made a splat, mapping in my mind where the trails were, and where the trees were. My mind flickered back to a show that I had seen once, where a blind guy used the rain to see his lover's face. I did the same now, finding that there were no birds in the sky, nor were there any animals besides something in the bush by the door.

Wait, that was a large animal to be out in the rain! I listened harder, and figured out that it was probably a cow, ox, or horse. I found a large sweat shirt that I slipped over Tohru's nightgown (she lent it to me) and I hurried downstairs. From the wind I knew it was night, and there were no sounds in the house.

As I walked, I mapped out more of the house. With my internal compass, I found my way to the front door and slipped out into the summer rain, listening intently for the large animal near the bush.

I knelt down by its head. By the shape, I figured it was either a cow or an ox, and it was sleeping, or unconscious. I knew I couldn't do anything alone.

As if answering my prayers, I heard two sets of footsteps on the stairs. Guessing the weight, it was Yuki and Kyo again. How come they were always together?

I ran a hand in between the Ox's horns and down its head. A thought came to me –Hatsuharu! The ox Zodiac.

As this piece of realization came to me, the door to the house practically slammed open as both Yuki and Kyo called my name.

"You idiot!" Kyo shouted. "What are you doing out in the rain?"

"Shut up, Kyo, do you want to wake the whole house? I used the rain to make a mental map, and found out that this ox was the only animal around for miles. I just thought it odd that he was lying on his side, and all." I pulled the sweater closer around me; the rain was starting to sink in as cold pin-pricks.

"I'll take care of it, Miru. Kyo, get her some clean clothes." Kyo grumbled something, and grabbed my hand roughly, pulling me along behind him. He dragged me into Tohru's room again and threw a nightgown at me from the closet.

I attempted to pull the sweater off, but the zipper got stuck in my hair. I moaned in distress. "Kyo! A little help here." I called.

The door opened again, and Kyo hesitantly stepped in. Without a word –he was blushing, I could tell, -- he helped me get the sweater off. Mumbling something more, he left the room.

It was then that I remembered that Tohru said the nightgown was white.

Oh snap.

All girls know what happens to thin white cloth. It gets see-through.

Shit.

Kyo just saw me practically half naked or something like that. Anyways, he at least probably saw skin in the places where the nightgown was sticking. So mainly my thighs and a bit around the neck, but nothing drastic. Thank goodness for the sweater, which had covered most of my torso.

I swiftly changed again into the other nightgown, which was a silky, almost velvet material.

I fell asleep almost immediately.

* * *

A/N: I was never planning to turn this into a FF. I started writing it for pleasure around 8pm. It is now 1am. I have about 2 or 3 chapters written behind the scenes, but I'm not sure if I should post them right now. Anyways, my only regret in writing this is that my friend Micah can't read them. She hasn't seen Fruit's Basket. 

So do as you wish.

Sarii


	2. Chapter 2

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Sohma house.

'Tis not every day you get sucked into a different dimension and go blind.

I felt my way downstairs, towards the voices. Once down there, I stood in a corner until Tohru guided me to the table for breakfast of rice balls and stew.

I've never had stew and rice for breakfast before.

Then again, I've never been sucked into a dimension across the ocean, where anime/manga characters exist.

Geez, I touché'd myself.

"Good morning, Miru. Yuki. Shigure." Kyo said as he seated himself at the table, next to Yuki.

"What, no dramatically loud entrance?" I asked him, quietly munching on my rice.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ah, you must be Miru," Shigure said. He introduced himself, sat down, and we ate breakfast as if I belonged there. As if I weren't blind.

Ah well. I was getting used to this blindness stuff.

"Oh yeah, Miru, we didn't want to disturb you yesterday, but what were you doing in the woods?"

Agh. That subject.

"Attempting to find civilization." I replied calmly.

I could almost feel the confusion radiating off them.

"Don't worry about it. Anyways, Shigure, is it okay if I stay here for a bit? I need to sort things out, with the blindness and all."

Okay, I admit, I planned that out.

I had to play the blindness card so they wouldn't ask where I lived. And if I really had to go home, I would walk to the shed and stay there until I figured something out. I would probably be able to stay there until the end of summer. Hopefully by then I would have things figured out.

"Kyo, Yuki, may I talk to you for a second?" Shigure waved the two boys into a room which I suspected to be the perverted writers office. I fine-tuned my ears to hear what they were saying.

"We can't have her stay here, what about the curse?" Kyo was saying.

"I wonder if it matters. She is, after all, blind." Shigure countered.

"If she bumps into one of us, she wouldn't see any thing. It would only be if she had felt us change into our Zodiac form, and even then we could say it was probably a stray animal." Yuki offered.

"He's got a point. She's staying." Shigure finalized the decision, as he and Yuki left Kyo grumbling. Kyo, as soon as he was out of the office, left the house.

I finished off my stew as Shigure and Yuki sat down and said I could stay. I allowed myself a smile.

"Thank you so much!" I picked up my dishes and brought them to the kitchen, where I heard Tohru washing her own.

"Finished?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I placed my dishes on the counter. "Um, Tohru, do you mind if I borrow some clothes?"

"It's fine, follow me." Leaving the soapy water, she guided me back up the stairs and into her room, where she handed me a kimono, which she described as pure white with winding black lines on the bottom. She then showed me to a room with one of those floor beds I saw in the manga, where she helped me put on the kimono. This was going to be my room for the duration of my stay in the Sohma household, and this kimono is also mine.

Thanking Tohru once again, we headed back downstairs, where I sat back down at the table and Tohru went back to the dishes.

"Yuki, what happened to the ox from last night?" I inquired.

I'm quite certain he and Shigure exchanged shifty glances at that moment, but I couldn't be sure.

"Oh, he left after the rain stopped. My cousin came, though, when you were sleeping. He should be in the shower right now." Suspicious.

Ah, so that was the running water sound. That just flicked off.

"Okay…Shouldn't you be in school?" I asked suddenly.

I felt him perk up.

"School! Tohru, we're going to be late!" He called into the kitchen. Tohru came speeding out. I heard the two grab their bags from the door on their way out.

"Have a good day!" I called after them, like some sort of house mother.

"Who are you?" a rough voice from behind asked me. I wasn't surprised; I had heard him 'creep' up on me.

Being blind has its perks of heightened senses.

Sadly, I bet that includes the sixth. I expect to be talking to ghosts in a bit.

"I'm Miru; I'll be staying in this house for a while." I answered the stranger, whom I figured out is Hatsuharu. As I spoke I continued to face outside, listening to the wind blowing through the leaves.

"Hn. Call me Haru."

"'Kay."

Now that's what I call a laid-back conversation.

I lowered myself carefully onto the floor so my legs dangled over the side of the porch. With a rustle of cloth, Haru sat down beside me. I smelled leather and soap, and he was still damp from his shower.

Let me tell you, even if I couldn't see him, he smelt _good._

"So what's with the blindfold?"

Without speaking, I reached behind my head and untied the white band from around my head, and let it fall away. He drew in a sharp breath as he saw my recent wounds.

What he did next surprised me.

I felt his fingers lightly graze the scabs on my eyes, smoothly gliding over my damaged skin. "Who did this?" he whispered.

Afraid he was going to go black, I hurriedly replied, "No one! I tripped in the woods and got all scratched up. I think I fell on a rock or something."

"Rocks don't leave this kind of mark. This was done with a piece of metal. Jagged."

THAT definitely shocked me.

And it showed in my voice.

"Really? All I remember is getting my foot caught on a root and blacking out."

"Are you sure it was a root?"

"…no."

He went silent and we sat there, enjoying the breeze. My mind was in turmoil from what he had told me. A piece of metal? I wondered if I fell on a nail or a shed tool of some sort or if someone really did come up and scratch out my eyes.

"Haru…" I broke the silence. "Uhm…"

"What is it?"

"Can…this is a little embarrassing, but can you tell me a story?" I asked sheepishly.

"Do you like to read?"

"Three books a week."

"Whoa. Alright then. I'm guessing Hatori told you about the Zodiac."

"Yeah. I pity the cat…"

"Okay then." Haru shuffled around inside for a second as I waited on the porch. He soon came back out. "Here, I have a pretty good book."

"What's it about?"

"Ghost stories."

I held back a shiver. Although I love ghost stories for their uniqueness, and how each one is different, sometimes I hate them because I get scared at night; I start thinking about the ghost as I lie in bed.

Haru began to read.

"_Today's battle is our last," the commander-in-chief told the men on the ship's deck. "Remember your honour and fight to the end. What more do we have to live for?"_

_And indeed it was their last._

_No family in all Japan had held greater power than the Heike, or had risen to it so swiftly. But their fall had been even swifter. Chased from the capital city, they had been hounded for nearly two years. And now the remnant of the clan and its loyal samurai warriors were arrayed in boats and ships off the coast at Dan-no-ura, ready for their final stand against an enemy fleet._

_As arrows flew and swords whirled, as dead and wounded samurai fell in the boats or dropped in the sea, the doom of the Heike grew clear. Then the clansmen, dressed in full armour, jumped into the waves, drowning themselves rather than fall into enemy hands._

_One ship bore the child emperor and the court ladies. When the emperor's grandmother saw that the end was near, she took the emperor in her arms and declared, "Woman though I am, I will not let the enemy lay hands on me. I will go where the emperor must go."_

"_Where are you taking me, Grandmother?" asked the puzzled boy._

_Fighting tears, she told him, "Away from this world of sorrow, to a happier one. Another capital lies beneath the waves."_

_And hugging him closely, she plunged into the sea._

_The twanging notes of a __Biwa __drifted over the temple garden in the hot summer night._

_Sitting cross-legged on the veranda, softly plucking the strings of the lute, was a blind young man named Hoichi. He was dressed in the robe of a Buddhist priest, and his head was shaved like one—but he was not a priest. He was a bard, one of the many blind bards who for centuries had kept alive the tale of the Heike._

_Sometime around midnight, unable to sleep in the heat, Hoichi had come out in the evening air, with his Biwa to keep him company. As he played, he thought about the weeks since his coming to live at the temple at Akama. How lucky he was that the priest had invited him! As talented as Hoichi was, he was just starting his career. So he was grateful he no longer had to worry about food or lodging._

_Then too there was the honour and thrill of residing in a temple so closely linked to the Heike. Dan-no-ura, the place of their final battle, was just at the edge of town. And it was to appease the restless Heike spirits that the townspeople had built this temple, along with a cemetery nearby, where the priest held services in front of Heike memorial tombs. As for the spirits themselves, they no longer caused too much trouble. But they still showed themselves on dark nights, appearing as small, ghostly flames that hovered over sea and sand. "Demon-fires," they were called._

_Hoichi's old teacher had told him, "To perform the tale of the Heike, you must know the Heike well." And where better to come to know them than the temple at Akama?_

_Hearing something, Hoichi stopped his playing and listened. Through the night came footsteps, measured by a steady __clank, clank—__the sound of armour._

_A samurai coming to the temple, __thought Hoichi. __What could he want at this hour?_

_The footsteps moved through the back gate of the temple and across the garden. __Clank, clank. __They were coming straight toward him! As the young man's heart beat faster, the footsteps halted before the veranda._

"_Hoichi!"_

"_Sir!" replied the young man. Then he added, "Please, sir, I am blind. I cannot see who you are."_

"_You have nothing to fear," said the voice. "My master, a lord of high rank, is lodging nearby. He came to visit Dan-no-ura, the scene of the famous battle. Now he hears of your talent in reciting the tale of the Heike. He wishes you to come at once to perform for himself and his attendants."_

"_I am most honoured," said Hoichi._

_The young man slung his Biwa on his back and slipped into his straw sandals. Then his arm was clasped in a grip of iron, and he was led rapidly away._

_They started down the road to town, and then turned toward the shore. '__Where could we be going'? __Thought Hoichi. '__A great lord cannot stay on the beach!'_

_But before long they stopped, and the samurai called "Open!" The young man heard the sounds of a large double-door gate swinging wide. '__How strange,' __thought Hoichi. '__I know nothing of a great house here.'_

_They crossed a large yard, mounted some steps, removed their sandals, and passed through another door. Then Hoichi was led down long walkways of polished wooden floors, around many corners, and across wide rooms carpeted with straw matting._

_At last they entered what Hoichi could tell was a huge room filled by a great company. Silk robes rustled like leaves in a forest, and the air hummed with a multitude of soft voices._

_Hoichi was led forward to a cushion on the floor, and the iron grip withdrew from his arm. The young man kneeled and set down his Biwa, then bowed to the lord he knew must be seated before him._

"_Hoichi." The stern voice of an old woman came from slightly to the left. The rest of the room fell silent. "You will now recite for us the tale of the Heike."_

"_It is my honour," said Hoichi, bowing again. "But the tale of the Heike takes many nights to perform in full. Which portion do you wish to hear tonight?"_

_There was a pause, and Hoichi sensed a tension in the room. Then a man's deep voice came from slightly to the right._

"_Recite the tale of the Battle of Dan-no-ura. Of all tales, it is the most poignant."_

_Hoichi bowed once more, sat cross-legged, took up his Biwa, and tuned it. Then taking his large pick made of horn, he began to play._

_Never had Hoichi played better than before this great company. In the tones of his Biwa were the roars of the sea, the whistling of arrows, the crashing of boats, the clanking of armour, the clanging of swords, the cries of fierce warriors._

_And then Hoichi's voice lifted in chant. He sang of the gathering of forces at the scene of battle, the formal first exchange of arrows, the words of the commander-in-chief. He sang of the initial advances of the Heike, still hopeful, then the turning of the tide against them and the desertion of many supporters. He sang of the Heike clansmen holding fast to extra armour, even boat anchors, to speed their journey to the bottom of the sea._

_At first the listeners were quiet, almost unnaturally so. But as the performance went on, they seemed to grow restless, anxious. Hoichi heard little exclamations, sounds of men weeping. __Never have I affected an audience so deeply, __thought Hoichi proudly. Encouraged by this, he performed even more brilliantly, even more movingly._

_But as he began to sing of the emperor's grandmother—her taking the boy in her arms, the words she spoke to him—the cries and weeping grew louder, until Hoichi became uneasy. And when he sang of their leap into the waters, the company burst out in such wild wailing that Hoichi was frightened._

'_What has aroused them so?' __He wondered. __Can my performance alone have done this?_

_Hoichi finished, and the noise in the room slowly subsided. Somewhere in front, a boy's quiet whimpering faded away._

"_Hoichi," said the old woman, "we had heard high praise for your playing and reciting. But never did we imagine such skill as you have displayed. Our lord will remain here two more nights. You must come each night at the same hour and perform the tale again. And be assured, on the last night you will be well rewarded."_

"_Thank you!" said Hoichi, bowing again._

"_But be warned," continued the woman. "Our lord does not wish his presence here known. Tell no one of your coming!"_

_The iron grip fell again on Hoichi's arm and led him quickly back the way he had come._

_No one had seen Hoichi leave the temple. But the priest, returning after midnight from a service he had performed, happened to enter by the back gate, and he noticed that Hoichi's sandals were gone from the veranda steps. Checking inside, he found that the young man was not in his room._

_Where could he be, so late? __He wondered._

_The next morning, when the priest rose, he checked again, and found Hoichi on his sleeping mat, deep asleep. Hours later, a servant reported that the young man was up at last, and the priest sent for him._

"_Hoichi, you've worried me. You were out very late, and none of the servants knows anything about it. Why would you go out like that on your own?"_

"_It was nothing," said Hoichi. "Just a little business I had to attend to. Please don't concern yourself."_

_But the young man's answer worried the priest still more. It was not like Hoichi to be secretive._

_Later he told one of the servants, "Keep a lookout tonight. If Hoichi leaves again, follow and see where he goes." _

_That night, the servant kept watch on Hoichi's room from a far corner of the garden. Clouds covered the moon, and it began to drizzle. The servant huddled under a tree, but the rain grew heavier._

"_It's almost midnight," grumbled the man. "He won't leave so late, and not in this rain! I'm going to bed."_

_But just then he saw Hoichi come out of his room with his Biwa and sit on the covered veranda. "What's he up to?" mumbled the servant._

_Hoichi sat for a long time, softly playing the Biwa. Then he stopped and seemed to listen to something. All at once, he stiffened and called out, "Sir!"_

_The puzzled servant looked around. "Who does he think he's talking to?"_

_He saw Hoichi rise, sling his Biwa on his back, slip into his sandals, and come down the steps. The young man did not even seem to notice the rain. Walking more briskly than a blind man should, he crossed the garden and passed through the gate._

_The servant rushed inside and grabbed a lantern. But by the time he got out to the road, Hoichi was already out of sight. The rain was now falling in sheets._

"_Hoichi! Hoichi!" He hurried toward town, expecting to catch up any minute. But he didn't see a soul._

"_How could he move so quickly? I'd better find him, or the priest will be furious!"_

_The servant reached town still without seeing Hoichi. He knocked on the doors of every house and establishment he could remember the young man visiting. But all he got for his efforts were the curses of those he awakened._

"_It's no use," he told himself. "I've tried everywhere."_

_He started back to the temple, walking this time by way of the shore. But then, amid the howling of the wind and the beating of the rain, he heard the tones of a Biwa and a voice rose in chant._

"_It's him!" he cried, and he hurried toward the sounds. . . ._

_Once more Hoichi sat amid the noble company. Once more his Biwa and his voice brought to life the Battle of Dan-no-ura. Once more came the little outbursts, the sounds of weeping, growing louder, more anguished, more fervent, until . . ._

"_Hoichi!"_

'_What's this?' __Thought Hoichi. '__It sounds like one of the temple servants! But what is he doing here? And how could he think of interrupting me like that?'_

_Hoichi kept playing, kept singing. The emperor's grandmother, taking the boy in her arms, stepping to the edge of the ship. . ._

"_Hoichi! Hoichi!"_

_The voice was in his ear, and a hand was on his shoulder, shaking him._

_The listeners in the room had grown strangely quiet. Hoichi kept playing his Biwa, but said in a low, desperate voice, "Are you out of your mind? I am performing for this noble company. Go away, or you will bring disaster on us both!"_

"_Hoichi, you are bewitched! There is no noble company. You are sitting in the rain, here in the cemetery of the Heike. In front of you are the memorial tombs of the emperor, his grandmother, and the commander-in-chief. And all around you are hundreds of demon-fires!"_

"_What are you talking about?" said Hoichi. "I am in a palace, performing for a great lord!"_

_The servant did not argue further. Much bigger than Hoichi, he slipped an arm across the young man's chest and hauled him off the muddy ground._

"_Stop!" cried Hoichi, struggling against the grasp. "Please! Leave me alone! You'll ruin everything!"_

_Ignoring both pleading and struggling, the servant dragged him toward the cemetery gate._

_The priest looked with concern on the pale, downcast figure before him._

"_Hoichi, I'm glad you have finally trusted me enough to explain yourself. And I hope you now understand that it was not for a great lord you performed the tale of the Heike, but for the spirits of the Heike themselves."_

"_I understand," said Hoichi softly._

"_Good," said the priest. "Then you should also understand that the only 'reward' they would give you would be to tear your body to pieces—to give you the 'honour' of joining them forever. You are in great danger, my friend. The samurai will surely come again this third night. And if you go with him this time, you will not return."_

_The young man trembled._

"_None of us here," said the priest, "could oppose this ghostly warrior. But I have thought of a way to save you. To make it work, you'll need great courage and strength of will. Are you willing to try?"_

"_I am," said Hoichi._

_On the priest's request, the young man stripped off his clothes. Then the priest took a brush and ink and began to write on Hoichi's body._

"_I am inscribing on you a passage from sacred scripture. When the holy text covers every part of your body—from the top of your head to the soles of your feet—you will be invisible to the spirits. Tonight, when the samurai calls you, sit still and do not make a sound. He will not be able to find you. When he leaves without you, you'll be free from danger for good."_

_At last the priest finished writing. "I'm afraid I now have a duty I cannot avoid. I must hurry out to perform a service in a nearby village, and I won't be back till very late. But if you do just as I have told you, you'll be perfectly safe. Good luck, my friend."_

_That night, a little before midnight, Hoichi stepped from his room and sat on the veranda. His Biwa lay in his lap, but he did not play it. He sat still, trying to calm the beat of his heart._

_At last he heard it—__clank, clank. __Through the back gate—__clank, clank. __Across the garden—__clank, clank.__ Before the veranda—__clank._

"_Hoichi!"_

_The young man caught at his breath and forced himself not to reply._

"_Hoichi!!"_

_He tried to stop shaking._

"_Hoichi!!!"_

_His hands clenched, as he willed himself not to faint._

"_Hm," said the voice in front of him. "I see the biwa. But of the bard I see nothing."_

_The footsteps moved onto the veranda and circled partway around him._

"_Nothing, that is, except two ears."_

_Two ears? How can he see my ears?_

_The steps moved directly behind him. "A bard with no hands or mouth will hardly serve my lord. Still, I must show I have followed orders as best I can. I had better take the ears."_

_Hoichi froze in terror. He felt two hands clamp his ears in an iron grip and. . ._

_Later that night, the priest returned from the nearby village. Anxious to check on Hoichi, he entered by the back gate and crossed the garden. Then he stopped in horror._

"_Hoichi!" he cried. He rushed to the veranda. "My dear friend, what have they done?"_

_There lay Hoichi, still and silent, his head resting in a pool of blood._

_The young man was alive, but barely. The priest himself bandaged the wounds and sat all night by Hoichi's mat._

_It was late morning before Hoichi stirred. Almost at once, he reached up to the sides of his head and touched the cloth that was wound over and around._

_The eyes of the priest filled with tears. "My friend, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault, my terrible, terrible fault. I thought I had covered your body completely with the sacred writing. But in my haste to leave_, I forgot to write on your ears_!"_

_Hoichi recovered, and as time went on, prospered as well. Word of his adventure spread, and many curious lords and ladies traveled great distances to hear him play and recite. So he gained both fame and wealth._

_What's more, Hoichi's encounter gave his performance a depth achieved by few others. For, as his teacher had told him, "To perform the tale of the Heike, you must know the Heike well."_

_And who would care to know them better than the man called Hoichi the Earless?_

I slowly rose from my half-sleep where I had practically dreamt of the story Haru read. "Haru…" I mumbled. "You are an amazing reader." I lifted my head (where I had realized it was on his shoulder! Eep!) and tied my blindfold back on. "That was a great story. Thanks."

"You're welcome…" Haru said, suddenly shy. He put the book back in the house and started banging around in the kitchen. From the heat of the sun, I guessed that the story took a couple hours.

Time flies when you're imagining a story.

_"__Natsuhiboshi, naze akai?_

___Yuube hanashii yume wo mita. _

___Naite hanashita,_

___Akai me yo____…____"_____I started singing. I sat there with the sun beating down on me, singing an old lullaby a friend taught me.

_"__Natsuhiboshi, naze mayou?_

___Kieta warashi wo sagashiteru,_

___Dakara hanashii,_

___Yume wo miru…" _I lay down in the summer sun, absorbing the heat in my white kimono. Listening to the natural sounds around me, as well as Haru in the kitchen, I drifted off…

* * *

_"**You Bastard, Edmund."** **I mumbled, walking down the hall to my room. Turning on the computer, I opened an msn window.**_

_**Miru says: **_

_**My brother is an ass-.-**_

_**Freak a Geek says: **_

_**that's new. –yawns-**_

_**Miru says: **_

_**Sympathy please!**_

_**Freak a Geek says: **_

_**Muffin in Distress! M.I.D.!**_

_**Miru says:**_

_**-glares-**_

_**Freak a Geek says:**_

_**so tell me something random**_

_**Miru says:**_

_**do you ever wish you could fall in love with the 'perfect man'?**_

_**Freak a Geek says: **_

_**OMG! Has Miru fallen in love?**_

_**Miru says:**_

_**no, it's just a thought. I'm saying this because I haven't fallen in love yet.**_

_**Freak a Geek says: **_

_**Keyword, 'yet'**_

_**Miru says:**_

_**We're girls, we're allowed to dream of the impossible.**_

_**Freak a Geek says: **_

_**Too true, my friend.**_

_"**Miru, get off my computer!" My brother shouted from the next room, the kitchen. **_

_"**It's not **__**your**_** computer, it's the families. And has anyone told you how much of an **_**ass**_** you are? I have no idea why you have a girlfriend." I ducked into my room before my brother could cause any physical harm.**

* * *

I snapped awake, but it was all the same. From darkness of sleep to darkness of day. But still, that dream…

It was about my brother and my best friend, Micah. I hated my brother. He's two years older, and thinks he's the head of the house. He reminds me of a gentle Akito. And then there's Micah, the best person in the world. She could flip a bad situation and change the subject into something comical.

Sadly, she got into anime too late, and she couldn't watch most of the good ones, such as Fruits Basket or Full Metal Alchemist on youtube.

"Miru?" Someone called.

"Haru?" I asked. I didn't think it was him; the voice was too different. It was probably Hatori. I sat up, realizing that I was still on the porch.

"It's Hatori." Oh, I am SO right! Go me! I felt his stethoscope against my chest again. "Breathe deep."

"MUST you do this every time you see me?" I demanded, in a better mood after my nap.

"I'm afraid so, until your condition gets better." He checked my pulse.

"And when will that be?"

"In a few days your ankle will be fully healed, and Shigure can sign you up for school. I have the entrance exam here. Get Tohru or someone to help you fill it out soon."

"School! YES! Something to do!"

"Mind you, there's only 4 days left. You'll begin next year."

"Crap."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the main house."

"'Kay. Bye, Ha'ri!" I waved him off, using my nickname for him. He was becoming a friend to me, like Tohru and Haru. I wasn't sure of Kyo, and Yuki was too obvious in hiding the curse from me.

Not that he needed to.

I yawned and hobbled back inside the house. From the temperature, I could tell it was past noon, probably around 2, and I guessed Haru was inside with food.

"Haru?" I called. Nothing, not even a creak in the floorboards. "hello?" Still nothing. I ran my hand along the wall, and up the stairs, listening intently. Soon I heard someone in one of the rooms, and I opened the door.

"Haru?" I called again. Something soft but heavy hit the floor in a scuffle of leather as Haru swore under his breath, and I was tempted to ask what he was doing.

"Uhm…hi? Blind person here!"

"Sorry, Miru. I just dropped my coat, that's all."

"Your coat."

"Yes."

"And why do you have a coat in the middle of summer?" I knew the reason; if he were to transform while away from the house, he would need something to 'cover up' after. But I wanted him to spill the beans.

"Uh, no reason."

Awkward silence.

I coughed.

"Y'know, I can tell, for some odd reason, when you're lying. There's a reason, I'm sure, but I'll let it go this time. Can I have some food?"

"Uh, yeah, hang on."

He took my hand (my heart skipped a beat, strangely. I puzzled over it for a while) and pulled me gently downstairs to the table, where he set some turkey sandwiches. I thanked him and began to eat.

I sensed something was wrong. Haru seemed depressed.

"Haru, is everything okay?" I asked, taking another bite of my sandwich.

"Huh? Yeah, everything's fine."

"Right. Liar."  
He sighed.

"You're to go to the main house soon, preferably today. Akito's pushy. I'm…"

"What?"

"Never mind. Akito just isn't to be trusted. Hatori will go over it with you when he comes to pick you up."

"Why do I have to go today?" I asked.

"Because if you go earlier, you won't anger Akito, and you might not get hurt."

I winced at his words and finished eating. In half an hour (Haru read another story to me, this time a shorter one) Ha'ri came to pick me up. Haru came with us, but apparently he wasn't allowed to come in with me. I was to go alone.

I was scared. I knew from the anime that Akito was pure evil, that he thought he was god, the ruler of the Zodiac, etc. I was shaking. I didn't want to go, but I put a brave face on.

As if to reassure me, Haru placed a hand on my shoulder.

"So be polite at all times. If he hurts you, call me. I'll be right outside the door. Got it?" Hatori instructed.

"Yeah…You make it sound like he's some sort of crazy criminal."

"…He took out my right eye." Hatori said gravely.

"He governs over all of us. Whatever he says, we have to do." Haru informed me.

"And what gives him this right?" I demanded.

Both fell silent.

I sighed as Ha'ri parked the car.

"Here we are." He said.

"Hobey ho, let's go."

"Huh?" Haru asked.

"Confidence builder. Read it in a book once. Don't ask." I responded, then took hold of the end of Ha'ri's coat and followed him up some steps and into the shade of a house.

I swallowed a lump in my throat, and needlessly looked back at the car, as if I could see my new friend there.

* * *

**A/N: 'nother chapter up. The story was from a site that I found, called reviews is all I ask.**

**Sarii **


	3. Chapter 3

_A_kito, even if I couldn't see him, was scary. He had this edge to his voice that made him look like he could do anything, and he knows how to use his power.

He was a damn Sohma god.

"Miru, right? I hear you're living at Shigure's house."

Rule #1: Be polite at all times.

"Yes sir."

"And how do you like it there?"

"It's fun, sir. Shigure and the others are very hospitable."

I decided to try something at that moment. I reached out with my senses to see what Akito thought of this.

He was lonely.

Akito, head of the house, was lonely, and very, very sad.

I stood up at that moment, walked over to where he sat, and hugged him. He stiffened under my embrace, but soon relaxed slightly.

"You sound so lonely…" I whispered, almost to myself.

Suddenly, Akito realized what I was doing. I was touching him.

He grabbed my long hair violently, shouting. "You witch! No one touches me! No one! I am the master of this house!" He flung me, head first, into the wall, where I cried out in pain. Knowing that it was dangerous to stay in his presence any longer, I got up and ran towards the door.

"Miru!" Haru called as I flung open the door. Hearing a shuffle of feet, I flung myself into Haru's arms, dry-sobbing. I was shaking, I had been so scared. I thought Akira was actually going to kill me.

Haru hugged me, then when I wouldn't let go of his jacket, he picked me up and took me out to the car, calling for Hatori. I waited a few minutes in the car sobbing in Haru's chest (it was slightly embarrassing for anyone to see me this way, but I didn't care at the moment) until Hatori sat down in the driver's seat, bearing news that I was allowed to stay at Shigure's house.

"Haru…" I mumbled after I calmed down.

"Hm?"

"Akito…Akito is so lonely, Haru. But he won't let anyone get close to him. I don't understand it."

"Shh. Calm down. No one can understand Akito."

He gently rubbed circles on my back until I fell asleep, dreaming restlessly.

The next day, the 25th, I woke up in the spare room, on the floor mat. I was still wearing the cute white kimono from yesterday, and I guessed that Haru had carried me up. I blushed, and then got up, slowly making my way downstairs to the sound of pots and pans in the kitchen.

"Tohru?" I called quietly.

"I'm right here, Miru. Need some clothes?"

"Uh, yeah, if you don't mind." Once again, the day's events repeated. This time, I got some actual modern clothes; apparently Tohru went shopping for me. I now donned some jeans and a black T-shirt that I regretted not seeing. It was very comfortable.

Back downstairs, we all sat down to a lovely breakfast.

Something was different.

The mood in the air was suspicious. I guessed everyone was looking at me funny or something, because I felt really picked out. My skin started to tingle.

"Is there something I don't know?" I asked them as I ate.

"Miru, we have to tell you something." Shigure began.

"Hmm?"

"I assume Hatori has already told you the story of the Zodiac." I nodded. "Well, there's a curse on the Sohma family…Whenever we get hugged by the opposite gender, we transform into a Zodiac animal." I nodded again.

"And?" I inquired. They must have been surprised at how easy I took it, for they stayed silent for a while.

I paused suddenly, my hands going stiff and my chopsticks dropping to the table.

"Miru?" Kyo asked.

"I hugged Haru, after…"

"You what? And he didn't transform?" Yuki exclaimed.

"No…"

"After what?" Shigure asked me.

"You didn't know? I had to see Akito yesterday."

Silence.

Oops.

"Did I say something wrong?" I picked up my chopsticks again, finished eating, and placed my dishes in the sink. "What time is it?"

"8:30…School! Yuki, Kyo, we're gonna be late!" Tohru shouted, swiftly hurrying out of the room. Kyo and Yuki soon followed.

I sighed and went out onto the porch again, lying on my side with my head propped up on my hand. Haru apparently wasn't here today, so I don't have my storyteller. There was only Shigure, who was writing his book. So I sat out here, half asleep, and thinking about what happened in the past day or so.

Word got around fast. The very day after I woke up in Shigure's house, I had to go to the main house. I bet it was Hatori. I also met Haru, who is an awesome friend, Yuki, who is also very nice to me, Tohru, whom I think is so helpful, and Kyo, who is really annoying. And Shigure, the pervert. And now, when I hug a Sohma, he doesn't transform. It definitely is different, all right.

I worried about my mom and dad. Was someone there, in my place? Were they wrecking havoc all over the place? Or did time there just stop? I wondered what my brother thought of this. It is, after all, rather strange for a girl to wander onto her shed roof the night before her birthday, and then suddenly disappear!

I closed my eyes, drifting into a meditation state that I hadn't slipped into for several months.

* * *

"**Merry Christmas, Miru." My brother said, holding out a package. I took it from him, slowly unwrapping it.**

**I gasped.**

"**Aw, Ed, it's so pretty! Thanks, I love you!" I jumped up, hugged him, and then took my present from the tiny box. It was a necklace sporting an angel made out of pearls. "Here, your gift." I handed him his, and after opening it, he –surprisingly- hugged me back.**

"**Thanks."**

**It was clear he didn't like showing affection for his little sister, but Edmund had a heart, buried underneath miles of stress.**

* * *

"Edmund…" I mumbled, breaking out of my meditation. The sun was high in the sky, beating down at the height of the day. Shigure's even footsteps pounded on the wood of the porch, vibrating it slightly. 

"You're awake, here, watermelon." He placed a plate in my lap that I figured held said fruit, my favourite part of summer. Picking up a piece, I nibbled on it as Shigure asked me the questions on the entrance exam, and I answered them as best I could without being able to see them myself.

"What do you think about the curse?" He asked me suddenly.

"Uh, I guess I wasn't too surprised." I answered him.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Yuki was too obviously hiding something. But don't you think it's weird? I, a total stranger to this country, can hug a Sohma without making him transform. See?" I hugged Shigure, and as I had predicted, he didn't transform. My temper rose slightly. "Isn't there something wrong with that?"

I stood up without waiting for an answer. Placing the watermelon skin back on the plate, I went back upstairs and into my room, where I lay on my stomach in my world of darkness.

I slipped my blindfold off, allowing my scars to breathe a little. I know what I needed. I needed someone who was excellent at describing stuff, so that in my own way, I would see again.

I stood up and walked onto the balcony, seating myself in the breeze. I decided I want to get my hair cut shorter, so it wasn't so troublesome.

___**Something has changed within me  
Something is not the same  
I'm through with playing by the rules  
Of someone else's game  
Too late for second-guessing  
Too late to go back to sleep  
It's time to trust my instincts  
Close my eyes: and leap!**_

I suddenly felt weightless as the song played through my head. I felt different, separated from the world, like I could fly anywhere.

I stood up, my hands gripping the railing of the balcony. Suddenly, I knew what I should, could, and will do.

I climbed onto the railing.

Spread my arms.

And let myself fall.

___**It's time to try  
Defying gravity  
I think I'll try  
Defying gravity  
And you can't pull me down!**_

___**Can't I make you understand?  
You're having delusions of grandeur:**_

___**I'm through accepting limits  
'Cuz someone says they're so  
Some things I cannot change  
But till I try, I'll never know!  
Too long I've been afraid of  
Losing love I guess I've lost  
Well, if that's love  
It comes at much too high a cost!  
I'd sooner buy  
Defying gravity  
Kiss me goodbye  
I'm defying gravity  
And you can't pull me down.**_

I flew.

Really, I did. Wings sprouted from my back, yanking my body up and riding the currents of the open air.

_**Unlimited**____**  
Together we're unlimited  
Together we'll be the greatest team  
There's ever been**_

___**Dreams, the way we planned 'em**_

___**If we work in tandem:**_

___**There's no fight we cannot win  
Just you and I  
Defying gravity  
With you and I  
Defying gravity**_

___**They'll never bring us down!**_

I swooped, glided, flapped, and flew. One of my biggest dreams was to fly, and here I was. I had wings and all; I felt overly confident.

___**I hope you're happy  
Now that you're choosing this**_

And on my flight, it didn't matter that I couldn't see, because in a way, I could. With my wings, my senses heightened another notch.

___**I hope it brings you bliss**_

I sensed birds in the sky and trees, animals all throughout the woods. I sensed the people too; I sensed how much they've damaged the world. The cars zoomed by underneath me, and I felt the heat and smog they left behind. I coughed once, and flew in a different direction, farther into the woods.

___**I really hope you get it  
And you don't live to regret it  
I hope you're happy in the end  
I hope you're happy, my friend:**_

I heard the students of a school nearby, and I guessed it was where Tohru and the others went. I twisted so I was flying upright and listened intently. I heard Kyo on the roof, Yuki was in a meeting, and Tohru was eating lunch with her friends, Uo and Hana. Kyo looked up in my direction, and I quickly changed my path of flight so I as flying away from the school and the major part of civilization.

There was a sudden bang that came from a human in the forest. I froze in midair. My arm burst in pain as a small piece of metal entered my flesh.

___**So if you care to find me  
Look to the western sky!  
As someone told me lately:  
"Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!"  
And if I'm flying solo  
At least I'm flying free  
To those who'd ground me  
Take a message back from me  
Tell them how I am  
Defying gravity  
I'm flying high  
Defying gravity  
And soon I'll match them in renown  
And nobody in all of Oz  
No Wizard that there is or was  
Is ever gonna bring me down!**_

I turned, danger warning all around. All animals were silent as the gun shot again, this time hitting my leg. I flew in the direction of Shigure's house, loss of blood making me weak. Before long, I spiralled down to the front door, where I hobbled up, slid open the door, and collapsed right in front of Shigure who was having a late lunch. My eyes blurred, and slowly I closed them.

* * *

**A/N: So I felt like another chapter. Not like I get many people here. Ah well.**

**Just so you peoples who actually read this know, I have at least 5 other chapter written, and am always writing more. Review and support me please.**

**Sarii**

**P.S. The song in this chapter is from the 'Wicked' soundtrack, and it's called Defying Gravity, the namesake of this story. My cousin taught me it when I was visiting. Ja ne.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

_Ow._

Owch. My arm hurts.

And my leg.

And my back.

Wait, my back?

Oh yeah, wings. I guess it's only reasonable that they'd be sore after my first flight.

But still…The adrenaline rush from swooping through the air, it's amazing.

"Miru?" someone called, hesitating slightly.

"Hatori?"

"Yes. You got shot once in the arm and once in the leg, Shigure called me."

"Ow."

Hatori scuttled over, checking my pulse and health. "You won't be able to walk for a bit, so I brought a wheel-chair over. Your left arm is also currently immobile. You're lucky the bullet didn't hit any serious points."

I only nodded. I was disappointed that I would have to rely even more on others. Now, not only do I need someone to describe the scenery, I'll need someone to push me around too! Geez, I felt so small and helpless.

"Thanks Hatori."

"I'll be taking care of you until the 28th in 2 days."

"Two days? It's all ready the 26th?"

"Yes, you slept for the rest of the day. After school ends, Kyo, Yuki, Haru or someone else will help out."

"…Thanks."

"You don't like this, do you?"

"Not a bit."

I was to stay on the ground floor until I was able to walk up the stairs, and I was forbidden any night flights or any flights at all. There was also a temporary ramp so I could go in and out.

"Hatori, can I go visit Tohru and the rest at school tomorrow? It is, after all, a two day festival if I heard right."

"Okay, I'll take you there later. But for now, sleep. You'll need all the energy you can get."

Hatori left me in my little dark world. Images floated before my eyes; what I thought the people looked like, using their anime pictures, what I might have seen on my flight if I weren't blind.

Why my name meant 'to see'.

Ah, the irony.

I drifted off in anticipation of actually being outside the Sohma land.

* * *

"Have a safe trip!" Shigure waved Hatori and I off. Tohru, Yuki, and Kyo had already left for school, after being filled in by Hatori on what happened and why I was in a wheelchair, etc. It's not like I could use crutches; my arm is immobile, in an ugly cast everyone signed without my knowing. Now I have all the known Sohma names written all over my arm.

Great.

Ha'ri wheeled me down the ramp and onto the stone path, the chair jolting slightly when it hit a bump.

Y'know, I bet I looked terrible, like I had been in a giant accident or something.

For about ½ an hour Ha'ri pushed me down the road. I felt the smog come out of the speeding cars, and Hatori (thankfully) described the scenery when I asked, quite specifically. But, it sounded like a doctor's report. His tone was slightly boring.

On the way there, I would have fallen asleep if not for the conversations we kept up. I asked him many questions, like what he thought of the sky, or his views on a rock. During our trip, I learned a little more about Ha'ri. I guess I now understood why Tohru wanted to always learn more about her friends.

"Here we are," Hatori said, as he wheeled me down some place. He described the school as large, 3 storied, and white, with rock paths leading up to the doors, and a breezeway separating the school into two buildings. We went inside, got the elevator key from the office, and headed towards the 2nd floor where Tohru, Kyo's and Yuki's class was.

"Miru!" Tohru exclaimed as we entered the room. I felt all eyes suddenly turn on me. "And Hatori too!"

"Hi, Tohru. I wanted to get out of the house for a bit, so we came here." I explained.

"Ah, Miru! What are you doing here? I expected you to be at home resting." I felt the Yuki Fan club girls twitch when they heard that.

"It's too stuffy. I wanted to get out for a bit, and away from Shigure." Hatori then let go of the wheelchair handles to check Yuki's breathing. Yuki, as usual, complained as the girls squealed.

Unfortunately, it left me vulnerable to the class's wrath and questions.

"How do you know Yuki?"

"What relations do you have with him?" They asked me. Other questions were fired off, and I answered only those that I could, without giving away that I was from a different country, let alone a separate dimension.

And then a boy asked an evil question.

"What happened to you anyways?"

I fell silent, as did most of the class. I guess they were scared at my expression, which was most likely twisted in malice towards the hunter who shot me.

"That doesn't matter." I said quietly, almost at a whisper. But the volume of my voice didn't really make them strain their ears, for the room was quiet enough. "Hatori, it's too noisy in here, I'm getting a headache. Can we leave?"

"Sure." Hatori took the handles of the wheelchair once more, and we were pushed out of the room.

"What was their exhibit?"

"Same one as last year; an onigiri stand."

"Can we visit Haru's class? I want to know what they're doing."

"I heard they were doing a play, and Haru was nominated for the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. Momiji is Red."

"Let's go listen." My voice, I knew, was cold. I was in deep thought as to why the hunter shot me, or how he could even see me so high in the clouds. Also, what happened to me was a touchy subject because I'd rather not depend on others like I'm doing now. It also reminds me that I'm blind, and I could be being told a lie without knowing. The only thing I could do is to imagine what I will, and suffer from lack of reading.

"…What big ears you have!" A high pitched voice exclaimed as we entered the room.

Yup, definitely Red Riding Hood. And that was definitely Momiji.

"All the better to hear you with, my dear," The wolf, Haru, said in a menacing tone.

"Haru sounds like a good actor." I whispered to Ha'ri.

"But grandmother, what big eyes you have!" Momiji cried.

"All the better to see you with, my dear."

"But grandmother, what big hands you have!"

"All the better to hug you with, my dear."

"But grandmother," Momiji cried, repeating the same pattern again and again. "What big teeth you have!"

Fairy tales were repetitive.

"All the better to eat you with!" There was movement as (I imagined) Haru jumped to eat Momiji.

The play went on. A hunter cut open the wolf's stomach, Momiji, and the girl playing the grandmother popped out, and they all lived happily ever after. The end.

After the play, I felt eyes on me again, but I wasn't attacked by any members of the SBFC (Sohma Boys Fan Club) when Haru saw me.

"Miru! What are you doing? Go back to the house." He ordered.

"No." I replied cheekily.

"Miru, you need rest. Go."

"Or what? You'll eat me? Hatori will probably slit open your stomach and kill you." I grinned. I loved teasing people every once in a while.

Haru sighed and gave in. "So what're you doing here?" He asked me as I heard Momiji find Hatori.

"The house was stuffy. I wanted to get out. Etc."

"Mmhmm. Anything new?"

I knew what he wanted me to tell him.

"Not here." I said. He took hold of the wheelchair and pushed me out of the room, heading who knows where.

"Where are we going?"

"The rooftop."

"The elevator doesn't go to the roof, does it?"

"Nope." I was about to ask something more when he suddenly scooped me up in his arms bridal style, and climbed the final set of stairs. Afraid of being dropped, I clung onto his shirt with my good arm.

"Don't drop me or anything!"

"Here we are." A door squeaked on its hinges, and wind was upon my face. I breathed deep, savouring the clean air. Haru carried me to the edge of the building, where I threaded my legs in between the bars. He sat beside me, and I began to describe my flight. When I got to the part of the hunter, he tensed up.

I laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It was probably just someone who wanted goose for their supper or something."

"But you said you were in the clouds! A normal person wouldn't be able to see you from that height. And I don't think it was a mistake that he aimed for you."

"So what do you think it is?"

"I think it's the same person who injured your eyes."

I managed to hold back a gasp, but a shudder still escaped my battered body. Haru suddenly pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. Shocked, my heart skipped several beats; he was hugging me of his own free will.

"I'll protect you from him." He whispered in my ear. "I don't know how the hugging thing works, but I'm glad I don't transform around you." I hugged him back, smiling again.

"Haru, can you tell me what you look like?"

"…You might not like it."

"I don't care, I can't see anyways. I want to know your description of yourself."

"Well, I have weird hair, for starters. It's black at the roots and white at the top. My eyes are grey. It's hard to describe myself, you know."

"Then let me see." I lifted my hand to his face, tracing over all the lines; the shape of his chin, his cheekbones, eyes, nose…mouth. I hesitated there, and that's when I knew…that I really liked Haru, my best friend in the Fruits Basket dimension. Possibly even loved him.

Haru took my hand from his face and held it, pulling me closer. His hand slipped from mine then, wrapping around my waist. With his other hand, he held my chin, tilting my head up and pressing his lips to mine, in my first kiss ever.

* * *

-3rd person-

* * *

Kyo watched, seething in jealousy. He liked Miru, and he had heard the whole conversation between the injured girl and his cousin, Hatsuharu. He watched from his perch as he kissed her, and at that moment he wanted to rip Haru's face off. He remembered first seeing Miru, her sheer simple beauty. He remembered when she discovered the balcony in Tohru's room, and how she loved the outdoor air. He thought of when he had to help her get the zipper untangled from her hair that night, and he glimpsed some thigh through the nightgown and gone completely red.

He punched the roof of the stairwell room in his fury, and jumped down, running. Just running away from all his troubles. Running away from his cousins. Running away from Hatsuharu. Running away from his crush. From Miru.

* * *

**A/N: So here's the 'Christmas Special' I guess. A little depressing, yes, but hey, that's life. **

**So I have several chapters written in the background, and all you people need to do is get down on your knees and BEG! MUAHAHAHA! No not really. I believe you humans call it a 'review'. So yeah.**

**I have a bunch of songs stuck in my head, including several from the Wicked soundtrack as well as british child prodigy, Connie Talbot.**

**My gosh is she ever cute.**

**Anyways.**

**That's it for now. Happy Christmas, Merry new year, happy Hallowe'en, happy Hanukah, Yule, whatever your religion is. **

**Sarii **


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

-Miru-

* * *

"Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while…" Shigure sang as he pushed my wheelchair down the street. Tohru was chatting animatedly to Yuki, on my right and I was simply drifting along, sort of lost.

It had been almost a week since Haru had kissed me, and he hadn't shown me any more emotion on the subject. In fact, he had barely said anything to me besides greetings, and that was only when he saw me. Which was rare.

Kyo, too, had disappeared that day. I was planning to ask Yuki to take me out to the woods so I could listen for him. I just had a feeling he was a little lost…Plus, Yuki knows how to be quiet, unlike a certain few people.

My mind then flickered to the present again, with Shigure singing and Tohru chatting about her friends, Uo and Hana, and their summer plans. We had all just come back from the barbers, and my hair was now short, about half an inch from my shoulders. I also had slightly longer pieces in the front, which I was told were naturally golden.

Hatori was somewhere in the Sohma estate at the moment, and I was supposed to go to his office so I could get permission from the doctor to be out of the chair (I healed too quickly) and I could get crutches.

The wheelchair crunched over stones as we turned in through the gate (Shigure was describing some stuff for me) and I jolted up and down in my seat. The jolting no longer brought pain to my leg, which was a good thing. I couldn't wait to get out of this stinking wheelchair!

"Shigure, Miru, Yuki, Tohru, welcome." Hatori's voice called out. I raised my head in acknowledgement. I had become practically silent since Haru distanced himself from me, which made it even quieter in Shigure's house. I kept on thinking about Kyo.

Where was he?

"Miru, your arm is fully healed now," Ha'ri said as he unwrapped my arm bandages and checked over the scarred skin. He did the same for my leg and continued speaking. "You don't even need crutches, I'll bet. Try walking, Miru." I obliged, wobbling slightly but standing up on my sorely misused legs.

"I'll give you one crutch to help with walking for a few days. Come back on Monday and I'll check you over again." Finally! After receiving the crutch and practicing with it for a bit in Ha'ri's garden, the others came to pick me up and we had a pleasant walk back to the house.

* * *

_**They say  
they don't trust  
You, me, we, us**_

It was raining again. Perfect. (That's not sarcasm by the way. It's good that it's raining.)

**_So we'll fall  
If we must  
Cause it's you, me  
And it's all about  
It's all about_  
**I put on a large shirt that covered just above my knees as well as a large sweater before going out and knocking once on Yuki's door upstairs (unfortunately, I don't get to go back upstairs yet). Swiftly, with my crutch barely hitting the floor with each step, I went out the back and waited. Soon enough, Yuki came out to guide me through the forest on our kitty-hunting expedition.

_**It's all about us, all about us  
It's all about, all about us  
All about us  
There's a theme that they can't touch  
'cause you know (us)**_

I may not make it sound to serious, but it was. This was Yuki's cousin, we were searching for. Tohru's friend. A few people had called in the past week asking where he was. It was, after all, summer break.

_**It's all about us, all about us  
It's all about, all about us  
All about us  
Run away if we must  
But you know (us)**_

Yuki brought me to the middle of the woods, where I could barely hear the rain hitting the rooftop of Shigure's house- my home. Listening intently, I found there were only a few bugs out. There weren't any large animals or birds who dared to get wet in this kind of storm.

Suddenly, thunder cracked, and a blazing heat zipped from the ground to the heavens.

"That was close," I muttered under my breath. And then there was something else.

Where the lightning had struck moments before was a person. Thinking it was Kyo, I dropped my crutch and limped towards the scene, a soaked Yuki close on my tail.

**I_t's all about us (It's all about us)  
It's all about us (It's all about us)  
In you I can trust (It's all about us)  
It's all about us_**

"Yuki, who is it?" I asked him, cursing the person who blinded me.

"It's…" He trailed off.

"Yuki?"

"I'm not sure who she is."

"Describe her to me." I demanded.

"She has mousey brown hair, wearing a loose brown shirt, grey sweatpants, and high cheekbones—"

"Gah!" I exclaimed, and knelt down, listening even more than before. After listening for a minute, I tentatively reached out a hand and felt her face, getting an image in my head. "Oh shit…"

_**If they hurt you,  
They hurt me too,  
So we'll rise up,  
Won't stop,  
And it's all about,  
It's all about,**_

"What is it? Do you know her?"

"Yeah, she's from-," I stopped myself before I could say that she and I are from another dimention. "It's my old friend, Minbou. I don't know what she's doing here though."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yuki asked as he helped me lift her up.

"She lives in Canada."

"…"

_**It's all about us, all about us  
It's all about, all about us  
All about us  
There's a theme that they can't touch  
'Cause you know (us)**_

Yuki and I dragged Min through the storm and back to the house. We put her in my current room (keeping an unconscious person on the ground floor is much easier than having to drag her up stairs) and woke up Tohru, who helped me dry Min up a bit. We then all fell asleep, hoping to remember to call Hatori in the morning.**  
_It's all about us, all about us  
It's all about, all about us  
All about us  
Run away if we must  
But you know (us)_**

_**It's all about us (It's all about us)  
It's all about us (It's all about us)  
In you I can trust (It's all about us)  
It's all about us**_

_**They don't know,  
They can't see,  
Who we are,  
Fear is the enemy,  
Hold on tight,  
Hold on to me,  
'Cause tonight,**_

_**It's all about us,  
It's all about, all about us  
There's a theme that they can't touch  
'Cause you know (us)**_

_**It's all about us, all about us  
It's all about, all about us  
All about us  
There's a theme that they can't touch  
'Cause you know (us)**_

_**It's all about us, all about us  
It's all about, all about us  
All about us  
Run away if we must  
But you know (us)**_

_**It's all about us (It's all about us)  
It's all about us (It's all about us)  
In you I can trust (It's all about us)**_

_**It's all about us!  
It's all about us**_

* * *

__

"Ouch, my head hurts," I heard someone complain. Sitting up, I realized someone else was in the room too. I was about to call out when—

"Miru? Oh my god, Miru, everyone's so worried! What happened to you? By the way, where am I and why are you wearing a blindfold in your sleep?" Min's easily recognizable voice burst out, causing my heart to soar with the familiarity.

"Okay," I took a breath, looking her way. "First, you're in…Japan. An alternate dimension, by the way, where Fruits Basket exists. We're in Shigure's house. However, they don't know that we're from an alternate dimension, so don't freak them out. Yuki knows that you're from Canada, and I'm supposed to fill Tohru and the rest with facts when we woke up. Kyo is currently missing, and I found you out in a storm last night. There are clean clothes in the closet over here." I stood up, finding my way easily about the room, and walked to the closet where I fingered through shirts and jeans until I came to the place where I kept the slightly larger stuff. I was smaller than Min my a couple inches, so it was reasonable that I gave her the clothes Tohru bought me that were a size too big.

I threw her a pair of jeans and told her to pick a shirt. I picked out a different black kimono and skipped to the bathroom, where I changed quickly and headed back to the room, where Min was waiting.

"You still didn't explain why you are still wearing the blindfold. Practicing your walking skills or something?" I almost laughed.

Almost.

I don't like jokes about me being blind, and if this person weren't the best in the world, I would have not answered her at all. Instead, I told her simply, "Since I came here, many things have happened that have changed me for…well, most likely forever. Min, I'm blind…" And with that, I slipped the blindfold off, showing her my scarred eyes.

She gasped and hugged me tight. "Oh my god, I knew I shouldn't have asked. Sorry, Miru. I had no idea."

"S' okay. Tell me what happened since I disappeared."

"Well, everyone woke up on your birthday, looking forward to an excellent party," Minbou began, putting on her storyteller face as I slipped on the blindfold and headed to the smell of breakfast. "You dad, who called me later in the day to check if you were there, said that the whole shed had disappeared, you right along with it! Everyone had panicked, even your brother Edmund." I raised my eyebrows at this, but let it pass. "I guess I freaked too. So we searched high and low for you, for several days, but obviously we never found you."

"So how did you get here?"

"Oh, it was raining there, too. So I thought you might be in the woods somewhere. I went out during the day, expecting to get back before dark. It never happened, as you can see. At around…I think it was 11pm, I was so wrapped up in trying to find you, I didn't notice how late it had gotten until I could barely see. Anyways, I started heading back when it began to rain harder, kind of like the sky was crying. Thunder rolled and a white hot light burst out of nowhere, knocking me out cold. I woke up here."

"Hate to break it to you, M, but you're probably not going home any time soon." I told her as we reached the table.

"Well it's not my fault I had to go out there and search for you, when you didn't contact us for at least two weeks, missy. And that black kimono is very depressing."

"Don't diss the kimono, I like it."

I knew Shigure was raising an eyebrow at our new guest by how silent he was, and how uncomfortable Min seemed. "Freakish perv is staring at me." She whispered cautiously in my ear.

"Shigure, eyes off Min and back on your food. It's going cold." Surprisingly, he did as I asked. I then explained to him how Yuki and I found Min in the woods last night.

"What were you guys doing in the woods?" Tohru asked as she placed some food in front of Min and I.

"Um…We were looking for Kyo…" I said, somewhat fidgety about the subject. Suddenly there was a crash in the bushes that only I seemed to hear, and some swearing soon after.

My ears and heart perked up; there was only one person that would act like that…

I jumped up, chopsticks falling to the floor in my haste. Running outside, I listened for any more movement and heard footsteps receding quickly into the distance.

I ran as fast as I could to catch up to that troublesome boy. As annoying as he was, he was a part of the household, and even I missed him.

"Kyo," I whispered to myself, urging my feet to go faster. "Kyo!" I cried out loud, so that he could hear me. His footsteps faltered as he turned to see me. I barrelled into him, hugging him tightly. I felt tears come to my eyes as I thought, he's back, he's not hurt!

"I was so worried, Kyo. I thought something had happened." A tear slipped out from under my eyelid, and I swear he tensed when he saw it.

"…Yeah. Sorry, I uh…" He wiped the tear away from my cheek and hugged me back slightly, as if afraid of something. I let go and grabbed his hand, dragging him back to the house where I knew everyone was waiting.

"As long as you're back, Kyo, it doesn't matter where you went."

"…Yeah…" He seemed sullen around me, but I started talking about how my friend had come to visit, and how happy I am to be out of the wheelchair, and as we sat back down at the table, his ego was restored and that family feeling filled the house.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

"Min, can I show you something?" I asked my best friend after breakfast. She agreed (who wouldn't? Curiosity is a curious thing) and I ordered Kyo and Yuki to come along, they had to see this too.

I asked Yuki to take us to the most secluded clearing that he knew about in the woods. Once we arrived, I walked around the clearing for a few minutes, getting the lay of the land. Minbou wanted to help me, but Yuki and Kyo knew that this was something that I had to do by myself, or else I'd feel totally helpless. As they explained this to her, I centered myself in the middle of the field and cast my senses around, not picking up on anyone other than my friends.

"This is why I wore my black kimono today, Min." I explained to my best friend as vaguely as possible. "Now, I need you to tell me what color they are."

"The color of what?" Min asked.

**WHOOSH!**

I let my wings loose from the slits in my kimono. They blew out a slight bit of air, swirling old leaves around and creating a dramatic effect; it didn't help that at the time birds escaped through the tree's hold, and the forest went silent with the strange new creature in their midst.

All three sucked in their breath at the sight I would never see.

"Miru, they're…" Min started, but she seemed to breathless to finish her sentence.

"…Beautiful." Kyo breathed, just loud enough for me to hear with my enhanced senses. I allowed myself a small smile.

"Yeah, but what color are they?" I heard Min step up in front of me, and my wing twitched as she ran her hand along it.

"At the top, its pure white," She ran her hands along the top, sliding them down 'til the image in my mind covered 1/3 of the wing white. "then it fades to a speckled grey, and at the bottom its pitch black." She traced her hands along the wing, figuratively painting my wings. I smiled, pleased with myself. I grabbed Min by the waist and held her close so she could see where we were going, and I pushed up from the ground, wings beating furiously. If Yuki and Kyo gasped, I didn't hear it; there was too much wind.

Min screamed in delight with the weightless feeling of defying gravity. A grin across my face, I did a loop, and then plummeted, pulling up just before hitting the trees.

"A roller coaster can't give you this kind of view!" I told her, flying as high as her human lungs would be able to take. She giggled.

"Wow, Miru, this is amazing!" She yelled at me.

I screamed.

A sudden pain had shot through my arm where the bullet had been a week before. Accidentally, I dropped Min. Hearing her screech and realizing what I had done, I called her name and tried to catch her before she hit the ground.

There was a whooshing sound, a lot like the sound my wings make when they come out. Surprised, I slowed my pace as Min flew up beside me.

"NEVER drop me again, you hear?"

"Well, at least you won't need me to carry you." I retorted, spiralling around her as we came back to the field.

Min had wings, just like me.

I'm not alone anymore.

And at the very moment our feet touched solid ground (Min had resorted to kissing it) I knew what the two of us should do. But I would not put Min in that kind of danger. I would not take her to the one person that I was more afraid of than my brother.

Tonight, I was going to Akito.

"So what happened, when you dropped me?"

"Oh, I got shot in the arm a couple days ago by a poacher. I guess the muscle hadn't fully healed, and I strained myself. But it was worth it, you gotta admit that."

Min and I matched our pace to the boys' as we walked back from the flight fright.

"We shouldn't tell Shigure about my wings yet." She whispered so only I would hear.

"I guess it's reasonable. Shigure would probably tell Hatori, who would tell Akito, and Akito would…" I trailed off, thinking about how I could have been more hurt than a bruise from my last encounter with Akito.

"I get the point."

"Oy, you girls coming?" Kyo asked, sounding slightly irritated at our sudden slowness. We hurried to catch up, telling Yuki and Kyo not to tell Shigure anything.

"We'll surprise him later," We told them.

Back at the house, we sat down for lunch. When Min and the rest were in a deep conversation about…keyboards…I snuck off to the phone to call Ha'ri.

"Hey Hatori," I greeted as he answered the phone.

"Miru? Is everything alright? You're not hurt again, are you?"

"No, no, I'm fine. I was just wondering if I could see Akito this afternoon. I have something to ask him."

There was a pause.

"I guess that's alright." Hatori said after a minute. "This time I'll be there with you, so he doesn't hurt you or anything."

"Thanks, Hatori. I gotta go, I'll see you later. Bye."

We hung up and I rejoined the group at the table, immersing myself in a familiar happy feeling before I saw the devil himself.

"You sure you want to do this?" Hatori asked as I slid out of the shotgun seat. I nodded solemnly, not trusting myself to speak. He slammed his door and came around to my side, guiding me up some steps and onto another traditional wooden porch (you know, the ones that run all along the outside of the house, like at Shigure's). Hearing someone talking not to far off, I stopped to listen.

"Haru?" I asked myself. It was a deep voice, similar to Haru's, but I couldn't be sure. All I knew was that he was talking to Momiji about something-or-other. Before I could launch myself in their direction, Ha'ri took my arm and guided me through a sliding door, where we sat on our knees.

"Why did you come back?" Akito asked in that annoyingly leisurely voice of his. It sounded like it wasn't used as much as it should.

"I wanted to ask you something, about the Zodiac." I felt Hatori's surprise. I guess he thought that I knew something I shouldn't (the curse, cough, cough) and was probably afraid to wipe my memory. After all, Ha'ri had become a good friend to me.

"The Zodiac? What is it?" He was thankfully being good natured today.

"Um, was there any mention of angels or something, which the others don't know about? That you haven't told anyone?" my voice was cautious and quivered in a few parts, but at least I didn't run screaming from the room.

The swish of cloth had told me that Akito was standing up, and the vibration through the floor meant he was coming closer, until I could feel his breath on my face. I didn't move.

"And what do you know, huh? You know nothing about the Zodiac, or the Dimensional Angels. Nothing!" Dimensional Angels? Well, that explained a few things.

"Do I know nothing?" I inquired. The question threw him off balance, and he took a step back. I stood up, making my point more dramatic. "I know about the curse, and I have a suspicion that I know a little bit of what a Dimensional Angel could do." My voice was stronger now, more intimidating. Hatori tugged on the edge of my kimono, motioning for me to sit back down. I swatted his hand away.

"Akito, are you one of them? Are you a Dimensional Angel too?"

"What do you mean, too?" Hatori whispered. In answer, I drew my shaded wings out, unravelling them only as far as I needed to, to make my point clear. There was a similar sound, which meant Akito had finally drawn out his wings.

"So you see now, Akito? You're not alone any more. You have Hatori, and the rest of the Sohmas, and me too, and Min. Min is one of us." I stepped closer to him and wrapped him in a gentle embrace as Hatori stood up, prepared to restrain Akito if the need arose.

My heart glowed when he didn't push me off. Instead, he slid to the floor as I let go, muttering, "I'm not alone…I'm not the last one…"

Hatori and I decided to leave him in this state, to think things over. We slipped out of the room and Ha'ri led me back down the steps to the car.

As my hand touched the handle, I heard someone call out, "Miru?"

I pivoted swiftly to the direction of the voice. "Haru?"

* * *

**A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! That is, to those that bothered to read this. I hope you know, I'm sort of depressed at the moment. I took a peek at the stats; 4 reviews for 224 reads. And about half those reviews were from Micah, who reads anything I write. This is getting frustrating. **

**So I actually want feed-back people. If you don't like my story, tell me what I can do to correct it. I'm sad; this is a story of mine that has an actual plot. **

**Ah well.**

**Sarii.**

**P.S. You all suck. Unless you review. Or something.**


	7. Chapter 7

Recap: _I pivoted swiftly to the direction of the voice. "Haru?"

* * *

_

Haru abruptly ran up to me, taking me by the shoulders and pushing my back into the car door. "Miru, did he hurt you? Did Akito hurt you at all?" My spirit soared. He still cared about me!

"No, I'm fine. In fact, I was the one who wanted to speak with him." The pressure on my shoulders loosened a bit, but Haru still didn't let go. Hatori, on the other side of the car, seemed to perk up for a moment.

"Miru, I need to get something from my office, I'll be right back." I suspected Haru gave him the evil eye or something to leave us alone.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He shouted at me as soon as Hatori was out of earshot. Yup, I was right.

"I…had to talk to him, Haru. I had to. Everything's fine, he's not alone any more." At this, Haru's grip loosened almost completely, and I felt him rest his forehead on my shoulder.

"Don't worry me like that, Miru. Please." I guess the black phase had passed, seeing as my shoulders were no longer throbbing with the pressure from his hands. Still, I didn't like the fact that I was pinned up against a car, and that Hatori had left us alone. It was a slight bit scary. I was afraid that he would reject me again, like he did after that one day, the day where he had kissed me.

Of course, I was in the perfect position for him to kiss me too, trapped under his hands, and—

Warmth covered my lips, and slowly my brain registered that he was kissing me and I kissed him back. I was afraid of him leaving again, and didn't want the moment to end.

Sadly, it ended abruptly and unexpectedly, as Haru suddenly ran off, leaving me hanging.

Rejected again, I sighed. And he was the one who had kissed me, not the other way around!

My heart seemed to tear in two as I got in the car, Hatori coming not too long after.

"So does he know about your wings?" Hatori unexpectedly asked me a personal question that just so happened to refer to my love life. Taken aback, I stuttered an answer.

"Yes, I told him a week ago. But he doesn't know about the Dimensional Angels or anything."

"Hmm. Who's Min?"

"Min is my best friend, she just arrived here last night from…my dimension."

"Dimension?" Hatori inquired calmly.

"…Yeah, in my dimension, you, Shigure, Akito, Yuki, Kyo, and everyone else here are all from an anime called Fruits Basket, so we both know about the Zodiac curse before Shigure even told me. On the night before my birthday I fell asleep on my shed roof, wishing I could be transported here. And here I am.

"Then Min went looking for me in the woods, weeks after I disappeared. She had wished to find me, so she appeared last night. This morning I took her for a test-flight and dropped her, so we discovered that she also had wings as well."

Hatori fell silent, appearing to be in deep thought as he drove. I felt his eyes on me a few times, too, but I just acted like I was looking out the window.

When we arrived at Shigure's, I swear I could feel everyone's worry radiating through the walls.

"Oh shit, I'm in big trouble now." I mumbled, earning a chuckle from Hatori.

"You'd better go before they blow your head off and get my car bloody." He replied.

"Wow, the dragon is capable of humour. Who would of thought?" and with that dry sarcastic comment, I slid out of my seat just as the sliding door of Shigure's house burst open, causing me to flinch.

"MIRU YOU MORON, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Minbou shouted at me from across the front lawn. Someone came up from behind me, grabbing my biceps and dragging me to the front door to face Min's wrath. Judging by the roughness, it was Kyo.

"You idiot, you had the whole house worried when you disappeared." He whispered in my ear.

"Even you?" I asked, expecting to get a no. Instead, he went silent. My face went slightly red at my bold question.

I stood there in the yard for about 2 minutes, waiting for Min to blow off her excess steam. Finally, when she was done, we went inside to Shigure's office, where I 'had some urgent news to deliver'. I wouldn't tell anyone what the 'urgent news' was, though.

"Miru, you're back! Everyone was out searching for you, we had thought you had gotten lost, or maybe shot again!" Shigure greeted me as Yuki and Kyo seated themselves on either side of me, and Min was on Yuki's other side. "Kyo was kicking up the most ruckus, if you'd believe it. He--,"

"Shigure," I said gravely. "At the moment, that doesn't quite matter. What matters is that my plan didn't fail, and my head isn't rolling around on Akito's floor."

* * *

**A/N: I'm cutting it short because I don't feel like letting anyone see what happens next. It's a twist in plot, and I don't know if I should end this story with the next chapter or something...Anyways, I'm only updating because an anonymous person named Tsuki wanted me to update. What sucks is that this person doesn't have a profile on so she won't know when I update.**

**Let's hope she takes a look soon, 'kay?**

**You still all suck. Except for Tsuki.**

**Sarii**


	8. Chapter 8

_"Shigure," I said gravely. "At the moment, that doesn't quite matter. What matters is that my plan didn't fail, and my head isn't rolling around on Akito's floor."_

"Akito?" Yuki almost leapt out of his spot. Kyo, on the other hand, did leap out of his spot.

"You IDIOT! NEVER go to Akito alone, you hear?"

"I wasn't alone!" I retorted. "Hatori was with me. He was the one who drove me there, completing my disappearing act. And if I didn't disappear, you all would have insisted you came, ruining the details. Who knew what would have happened?"

Kyo fell silent, most likely expecting me to tell about my plan.

"So, I went to Akito's, and learned some valuable information, which included what Min and I are."

Question marks practically flared above every single person's head.

"We are Dimensional Angels, which explains how we got to this area of Japan specifically."

"OOOOOOOH! So THAT's what happened! Like on Tsubasa Chronicles, right? When they go to the dimensional witch to get Mokona, and all." Min said, sorting things out her own way.

"YES! Like that. But we're like Mokona. We can probably travel to different dimensions and back, without knowing where we'll land. The only difference is that we could probably go where we want to, if we know where we want to go." Okay, that was a little confusing, unless you've watched or read Tsubasa.

"So what we mean is that we can travel to different dimensions if we concentrated hard enough." I explained to the boys. And then I realized something was missing.

"Where's Tohru?" I asked.

"Oh, she's staying at Uo's for a sleepover tonight, and decided to go over early." Yuki explained. I nodded.

"So are there any questions?"

Kyo, who had been unnaturally quiet throughout the meeting, suddenly stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Soon enough, I heard his footsteps on the roof.

No one else had any more questions, and we each departed the office, going our own ways. Min went to our room I think, Yuki went to his room, and Shigure continued to write his next perverted book.

Curious, I decided to follow Kyo. His silence had disturbed me, and I felt my way around the house until I found the ladder. Climbing up, I took a careful step onto the roof, before stumbling and almost falling. On my way to meet solid roof-tile, Kyo caught me and righted me. He guided me to a spot on the roof, where we both sat.

"Kyo, uhm…" I began, still ashamed of my clumsiness on the sloping surface. "Did you have any questions? You were a little too quiet during the meeting."

"Yeah…Since you know how to go to dimensions now, are you…I mean…will you go back? To where you came from…" He seemed uncomfortable with the question.

However, did this mean that the annoying cat I know actually doesn't want me to leave? Or is he so excited at me leaving that he didn't want to ask for fear of being disappointed.

But still, that thought hadn't really arisen.

"I…That hadn't occurred to me…Kyo, is it possible that you don't want me to leave?" I asked him boldly, not knowing what to expect.

"Well…"

He shuffled uncomfortably in his spot. I wanted to ask what he was doing, because it seemed to me like he was standing up. Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulders (most likely he was kneeling next to me) and kissed me full on.

I pulled back almost immediately.

Strange how I was showing loyalty to Haru –yes, I was in love with him—when he was obviously torn between two feelings and didn't want to talk to me at all.

Mumbling apologies, I stumbled off the roof, unfurling my wings, and took off above the trees, searching for a good place to land. Eventually I found a clearing.

**_I've heard it said  
That people come into our lives for a reason  
Bringing something we must learn  
And we are led  
To those who help us most to grow  
If we let them  
And we help them in return  
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true  
But I know I'm who I am today  
Because I knew you..._**

Footsteps echoed from the grass off the trees. I unnecessarily looked up. Of course, I couldn't see, but I was showing the person that I knew they were approaching.

"Miru?" A blessedly familiar voice called out.

"Haru?" My heart almost burst. The one person that I wanted to have near me at the time had appeared. I stood up, taking a few uncertain steps toward him. Why is he here, anyways? Was it accidental, or had he looked for me?

_**Like a comet pulled from orbit  
As it passes a sun  
Like a stream that meets a boulder  
Halfway through the wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you  
I have been changed for good**_

I was met by Haru's arms wrapping around me, pulling me towards him. I broke into tearless sobs, grateful that he would actually hug me after running from me so many times, yet weighed down by Kyo's kiss. Despite the fact that I pulled away from him immediately, I still felt guilty about it.

Being in Haru's arms, his hand stroking my hair, softened the blow a little, especially with his shushes.

_**It well may be  
That we will never meet again  
In this lifetime  
So let me say before we part  
So much of me  
Is made of what I learned from you  
You'll be with me  
Like a handprint on my heart  
And now whatever way our stories end  
I know you have re-written mine  
By being my friend...**_

"What happened?" He asked me after I had calmed down a bit. He sat me down in the grass and I leaned against his shoulder.

"Kyo…Kyo kissed me…" I finally told him, holding back a sob. I clutched his shirt and buried my face shamefully in his cotton shirt.

He held me away from him for a moment, studying me I guessed, and I feared he would reject me again. Instead, he pressed his lips to mine in another rare mind-melting kiss.

_**Like a ship blown from its mooring  
By a wind off the sea  
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird  
In a distant wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?**_

He hugged me again, and whispered in my ear. "I love you…" He said reassuringly.

My heart did burst then.

I grinned and kissed him again, and we lay back in the grass, in the middle of the forest. I felt full. If I left now, I would break, I was sure of it.

**_But because I knew you_**

**_Because I knew you_**

_**I have been changed for good****

* * *

**_

**A/N: This chappy is for beamingatyou and FreakaGeek, because they're the only people who reviewed this time. The song is 'For Good', another one from 'Wicked'. Mind you, I haven't even seen the broadway, although I would love it...**

**So that's all for now. GO SNOW DAYS!**

**Those who don't review suck. Those who have reviewed for previous chapters and don't feel like reviewing for this one, don't suck. But like any author, I appreciate reviews.**

**Sarii**


	9. Chapter 9

_"_Miru, are we…I mean, should we go home?" Min asked me the next day. Morning had come, and I hadn't left my room since I got back. Min had come in earlier to talk to me, and so proposed the aforementioned question.

It was generally the same question Kyo asked last night.

"I don't know. I don't want to go, but we should. Now that we know how to pass dimensions, we could probably visit either place, wherever we want to stay." I replied. My mind kept drifting to Haru. If I left, both of us would be heartbroken.

"Okay, I know you have Haru here, but seriously, Miru. I've got nothing to do with this place, besides you. And I know that you love him, but you have a family. You're my best friend; I don't want to lose you."

"Great, now you're making me feel guilty." I sighed, turning away from the cool breeze coming from the sliding door to face Min, although I couldn't see her. "Minbou, go home. Don't worry; I'll go back and forth between dimensions frequently, to see you, my family, and Haru equally. I don't want to face everyone just yet though; and besides, there's something I still have to do here."

"And what's so important that you're delaying going back?"

"Someone's still out to get me. And despite being blind," I flinched ever-so-slightly at the word, "I want to find him. I have to. I bet he's some sort of angel hunter…"

I heard Min sigh in defeat.

"…Min?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm hungry." Min chuckled a bit, and I heard her turn to leave before stopping at the door.

"Miru, I almost forgot. How do we pass through dimensions?"

"…A wish, Min. We make a wish." A soft smile touched my face before I followed Min into the kitchen.

* * *

Kyo was quieter than usual during breakfast. I guess he was embarrassed when I rejected him last night, but I didn't bring it up, and neither did he. It was an unspoken agreement.

I was still uncertain as to how I'd go about finding this 'angel hunter' dude, but I bet it'll just hit me one day. I had decided, during breakfast, that I was going to go with Min back home, to make sure people think we're still alive and such. But once that's over with, I'll come back and find the guy who shot me.

"Min, I'll come back home with you," I began as we washed the dishes after breakfast. I felt Shigure's presence on the other side of the door, most likely eavesdropping, but it didn't matter. He deserved to know, and we weren't going to tell anyone other than him. "But then I'm coming back here immediately."

"Yeah, yeah. Unfinished business and whatever."

"Thanks for not trying to rip my head off. And if Shigure can stand there in his free time, I'm sure he could help us put away the dishes." Even though I said it like I was talking to Min, I heard Shigure fall on the other side of the door, then slowly open it.

"Heheh…" I just handed him a plate to put away.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to be doing this?" Shigure asked as he helped me make my way through the woods, Min on my other side.

"Positive." I replied in a steady voice. Everything will go as planned.

"What about Haru? And Kyo and Tohru, everyone will be devastated to know that you've gone."

"…I know. It's better this way."

"Miru doesn't like goodbyes." Min explained. "It gives the feeling that it'll be forever before you see the person again."

Finally, the ground evened out slightly, and I felt Shigure let go of my arm. "Here we are."

"Thanks, 'Gure. We'll be sure to come back soon. Expect to see me in about a day."

Min and I stepped forward, and I put out my hand to touch the side of the old shed. I turned to face Shigure. "See ya."

Our wings snapped out simultaneously, causing disruptions in the air currents. Dried leaves blew around us dramatically, and with each one hand on the shed, and one hand holding the others' hand, we wished for home.

And then…well, I don't know exactly what happened next with Shigure in FB, because I went home. I opened my eyes to white, all a dimmed white. I took my hand off the shed and let go of Min's, pulling off my blindfold and wrapping it around my wrist.

I looked around with a big smile on my face. Home. I was home. Min was beside me, grinning just as wildly as I was. "I can see!" I exclaimed, stating the obvious.

But for me, the obvious was a big deal.

We both 'squealed' in happiness, then froze, unsure of what to do. Should we make a dramatic entrance? How 'bout getting on some make-up, ripping our clothes a bit and saying that some idiots took us hostage?

My stomach rumbled.

"I'm hungry."

The two of us walked inside, heading straight for the cupboards and pulling out a few trademark ingredients; peanut butter, sprinkles, chocolate chips, maple syrup, and bread. Putting it all together, we sat down at the table to eat '10 o'clock sandwiches'.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as traditional as usual, seeing as it was 1pm.

As Min and I were grinning and silently laughing at our unspoken plan, my brother just so happened to waltz up the stairs from the basement.

"…Miru?" He said after a beat.

"Nope, you just stayed up too late and now you're hallucinating. This hallucination suggests that you start going to bet at a more reasonable time."

"Oh my god, Miru, it is you!"

"No shit Shirlock! I'm not pac-man."

Then dear brother Edmund did something said brother would never do if I hadn't disappeared.

He hugged me. And it wasn't even Christmas.

It was then that I started choking on my sandwich of peanutbuttery goodness.

* * *

For some reason, dad felt the need to host a big party on behalf of my homecoming. Everyone wanted to know where we had gone, but I just told them I didn't remember, and that during this memory lapse, I probably changed into the awesome black kimono I currently wore. Min played along, and thank goodness we were best friends and on the same wavelength, or else we would have come up with completely different stories to tell everyone. Memory loss is the easiest of all to explain.

So before the aforementioned big party bash began, I disappeared.

Quite literally.

Min knew where I went. Shigure knows where I'm going. And Haru knows where I am. Because I still need to find that angel hunter, and so going back to where he first shot me is easiest.

Starting with the dimension.

* * *

**A/N: You guys deserved another chapter. I mean, I have 15 reviews! I swear, it was the most reviews I ever got for this story in 24 hours. I'm so happy! So anyways, check out my poll please. It might get me updating this or another story faster.**

**Sarii**


	10. Chapter 10

A week and a day.

That's how long it took.

How long what took, you ask? Well, figuring out what the hell I was supposed to do about this hunter guy!

During these dreadful two weeks, I barely saw any of the Somha family. I flew for two days straight once, trying to find that spot where the person shot me from. I found it, but it was so long ago that an actual person had been there that everything that was trampled had already grown back.

Gah.

And still, I had no leads.

So I sat around, sulking in my room and brainstorming, for about 1 week. I was so caught up in what I was thinking about that sometimes I missed meals, and my sleeping schedule got all mixed up. I was just glad I didn't have school on top of that.

Minbou visited for a few hours at one point, giving me a few math sheets to distract me. None of us had any clue what to do about the hunter, but still we sat. And we brainstormed. We brainstormed until our brains were all stormed out, but still we didn't come up with anything.

When I woke up from my daily nap, Minbou had gone back and I decided to go for a stroll.

Walking through the city at night is sort of calming. It alerts the senses, and everything seems more dangerous. How is this calming? Well, it's something out of the normal schedule of boredom and brainstorms, so it's actually healthy for me.

_So clever,  
Whatever,  
I'm done with these endeavors.  
Alone I walk the winding way.  
(Here I stay)  
It's over,  
No longer,  
I feel it growing stronger.  
I'll live to die another day,  
Until I fade away._

As I walked, my mind contemplated the idea of asking everyone if they had shot down a flying human, say, a month or so ago. I quickly discarded the idea.

The only bad point about midnight strolling is that I was blind in the Furuba world, and so I couldn't 'see', per say, if someone was across the street from me. Of course, if I stopped to listen, I would hear their footsteps, and if I let my wings out to heighten my senses, I would probably feel vibrations and hear the person's breathing.

But the point of strolling isn't to stop and see if you're being watched. It's to stroll aimlessly around town. Which was what I did. Until I bumped into someone who's gait was unnaturally quiet and quick, and I unfortunately didn't hear them coming. But then again, I guess you could call it lucky that I bumped into the man, for after he apologized and helped poor blind ol' me up, I picked up a feather that must have fallen from his person. Of course, he had left by this time, so I was free to stand and dwell on the man himself; the gruffness of his voice, the calluses on his hands, the thick rough jacket (which could be a hunter's jacket) that my face smacked into.

_Why give up, why give in?  
It's not enough, it never is.  
So I will go on until the end.  
We've become desolate.  
It's not enough, it never is.  
But I will go on until the end._

And the feather. There was something about the feather. It felt familiar, but I had to be sure. Running home, I woke up Yuki and Kyo, the two boys who still didn't know why I was back…in fact, they didn't know that I left for home at all.

I would have woken up Haru, but he wasn't sleeping at Shigure's house. Shigure hadn't seen my wings, and I wasn't in the mood to pull them out yet. So Yuki and Kyo it was.

Their protests of being awoken at 1am faded after they got one look of my slightly sweaty and anxious face; I had been in a hurry to get back.

"What's wrong?" Kyo asked anxiously. I held up the feather.

"What color is it?" I panted.

"It's greyish black, kind of like your wings." Yuki answered calmly.

"Miru, I think this is one of your feathers…That last sentence sounded so strange." Kyo said. I could picture him hanging his head at the last comment.

"Yeah, I guess it is…Thanks guys, this'll help a lot. I'm…I'm sorry for being so unapproachable for the last week or so. I've been a little caught up in things." I said hesitantly.

"It's okay, I think we'll survive." Kyo joked. I heard a smile in his voice, and smiled back.

"G'night." I mumbled, turning to head towards my room. The boys supplied the usual response of mumbled 'good night's and headed the opposite way.

_Surround me,  
It's easy  
To fall apart completely.  
I feel you creeping up again.  
(In my head)  
It's over,  
No longer,  
I feel it growing colder.  
I knew this day would come to end,  
So let this life begin._

I might actually have a lead.

If I could find that person again, maybe have one of the boys with me, they could describe the person to me.

Wait, if he really is the hunter, than what'll I do to him? I can't fight; I'm blind. Maybe I could get Haru to beat him up...I let the idea simmer for a bit in the light of glory, but then easily discarded it without a second thought.

Sure, Haru, Yuki, and Kyo would be like my henchmen and do whatever I asked of them because I was blind, but I still needed to know why the person had shot me.

_Why give up, why give in?  
It's not enough, it never is.  
So I will go on until the end.  
We've become desolate.  
It's not enough, it never is.  
But I will go on until the end._

It was on this thought that I fell asleep.

The next day, I felt an odd presence when sitting on the porch. The presence was exactly like the one from last night; the hunter.

I quickly scrambled up to my feet, turning to go inside, but not before a gunshot rang out. Splinters flew from the post right next to me, one cutting my cheek.

I froze.

The bullet had deliberately missed, I knew. The man was too close not to hit me, so he obviously wanted to scare me.

It worked.

_I've lost my way.  
I've lost my way, but I will go on until the end._

_Living is hard enough  
Without you fcking up_

Footsteps told me he was coming closer. His stride was the same as last night as well; quiet and quick, and within moments he was right next to my ear.

My breath caught as he spoke.

"Now, girlie, let's play tag." He slipped something that felt like a roll of paper into my hand. "You're it. Try to find me, before I get through 5 worlds, okay? Make this fun."

With that, he slithered away like a snake.

_Why give up, why give in?  
It's not enough, it never is.  
So I will go on until the end.  
We've become desolate.  
It's not enough, it never is.  
But I will go on until the end._

My first impression of him had been completely off. Sure, his hands were rough, and he wore tough-guy kind of clothing, but he was a sly man. I hated him terribly. He reminded me of Orochimaru from Naruto; slimy, grimy, and totally immersed in his ego. I think he has an inferiority complex. Or a God complex. Call it what you will.

I shuddered, finally able to move from my frozen state.

_I've lost my way.  
I've lost my way, but I will go on until the end._

_U-uh, u-uh_

"Shigure!" I called, running into the house. Letting my hand trace the wall, I went as fast as I could –which wasn't too fast—to Shigure's office. I burst through the door.

"Ah, Miru, what a pleasant surprise!" Shigure said.

"'Gure, I need your help. I might be going to another world soon."

"Is that so?" He sounded thoughtful now. I quickly explained the recent events. The slimy man had dropped hints and clues, and all he wanted to do was play a game with me! 'Let's play tag' he said.

Gah.

I then showed him the paper.

"What is it?" I asked, impatient.

"It's a circle, with a whole bunch of designs." Shigure explained, and attempted describing it.

I stuck out my hand. "Trace it on my hand. I might know what it is."

He took my hand, as requested, and drew lines spiralling across my palm. In general, the design was symmetrical and fancy, with many elegant-type lines.

And I knew exactly what it was. A transmutation circle, like the ones from Fullmetal Alchemist.

"I know where I'm going next." I spoke again. "I'm going to try to meet some people there who might be able to help me. But first, I have to get this to Minbou before I go to the next dimension."

And so the plan began. Next, would be the future. I felt like every decision I made was going to affect the outcome of this game of tag. Snake man was going to get his game, and I have a feeling he won't be the only one who has fun while playing.

Next stop is Fullmetal Alchemist dimension. Be it Amestris or Germany, wherever Ed and Al are.

_The final fight I'll win,  
The final fight I'll win,  
The final fight I'll win,  
But I will go on until the end._

I'm on my way.

* * *

**A/N: Think of this as a Valentines day treat, and the conclusion to this story.**

**Yes, I just said that this was the last chapter. I had expected it to go on a bit, but it wouldn't have fit under this category any more.**

**Song: Until the End - Breaking Benjamin**

**Special thanks to all the reviewers, You made my day!**

**Ugh, I hate Valentines Day.**

**So I'll put up a notice when I get the sequel started. I'll get typing after school.**

**Later!**

**Sarii**


	11. NOTICE!

**A/N: It's up! The sequel! Go to my profile and find the story titled No Good Deed. Miru is on her way to Amestris! …Or is it Germany? Who knows! **

**Special thanks to all my readers and reviewers. I'm glad people like my story, it gives me motivation to continue!**

**So _No Good Deed_ is an FMA fic, duh, and most wouldn't know what's going on. So please, before going to read this fic, watch FullMetal Alchemist on Veoh or Youtube. Just so I don't have to answer as many questions.**

**Toodles!**

**Sarii**


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